The Goan Community Aberdeen (GCA) has become the first Goan community/group to get registered as a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) on June 1, 2023.
This is a significant achievement for the GCA because as an SCIO, it will open opportunities for the GCA such as tax relief on surpluses and donations, rates relief for premises, special VAT concessions and access funding only available to charities and increased public trust.
The Charity Trustees, Sydon Fernandes (President), Maria (Dimple) Fernandes (Vice President), Ally Rodrigues (Treasurer), Laura Ferns (Secretary) and board member Savil Da Silva (Youth Coordinator) have expressed delight at the registration of GCA as an SCIO.
“The GCA was formed in 2013 with the aim to keep our Goan art, culture, and heritage alive through our dance, music, food, drama (play & movie) festivals, etc. We are a group of families (over 100 members) who came together to celebrate events throughout the year with the local community in and around Aberdeen,” explained GCA Secretary Laura Ferns.
"We did this with the help of donations, self-funding, and sponsors under the name of Aberdeen Goans. As we are a non-profit community and work based solely on self-funds, donations, and sponsorship, we decided in September 2022 to register this group as a charity under the new name ‘The Goan Community Aberdeen’."
“We follow the data protection guidelines, maintain a register of all members, and account for all our incomings and outgoings. The Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation is a new legal form that has been specially designed for the charity sector in Scotland.”
“We submitted an application on February 9 and after a thorough assessment, we were successful, and the GCA was registered as an SCIO on June 1. This means, the GCA now has a charitable status under the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005,” added Laura Ferns.
The Charity Trustees and Youth Coordinator Savil Da Silva thanked all members and non-members for their continuous support, generosity, and understanding these past few months.
“The GCA Trustees promise to continue the good work by organising fundraising events and donating to food banks and supporting local/overseas organisations with a similar charitable purpose,” said Laura.
The members have commended the GCA on the successful registration of GCA as an SCIO.
“This is such a fantastic achievement by the team. Well done on the completion of this significant milestone. It must have taken a great effort and diligence,” remarked Ivan Fernandes, one of the GCA members.
